Reaction to Terps fans storming court after win over No. 14 N.C. State

January 17, 2013|By Don Markus | The Baltimore Sun

Here is a sampling of the bashing Maryland fans got on Twitter after storming the court Wednesday night when Alex Len's follow of a Pe'Shon Howard airball gave the Terps a 51-50 win over No. 14 North Carolina State.

You get the picture. Hopefully, someone will educate the Maryland fans that they're supposed to storm the court after beating either North Carolina or Duke, as they did at Cole Field House during Gary Williams' first season in College Park and at Comcast Center three years ago when they beat No. 4 Duke -- Maryland's last win over a ranked team, respectively.

As my wife pointed out this morning, at least they didn't riot on Route 1, and nobody got hurt.

When I saw the students pour onto the court, I understood a little of what their mindset was. A few years ago, when my son was a freshman at Indiana, I got a call from him after the Hoosiers beat No. 3 Wisconsin at Assembly Hall. It was one of Kelvin Sampson's first big signature wins.

"We're down on the court!," he yelled.

"They're No. 3," I said.

Those who were part of that Maryland win over an unranked North Carolina back in 1990 understood what the fans were going through Wednesday night. Walt Williams, a sophomore on that team, is now the courtside analyst for the radio broadcasts. Tony Massenburg, who was a senior, was at the game against North Carolina State as a fan.

"Maryland's excited, they won on a last-second shot, the kids got caught up, a couple of them went on the court and a couple of more and a couple of more and there you go, it was a snowball effect," Massenburg said. "I don't think they really thought this was like North Carolina or Duke."

Williams laughed when asked what he thought.

"We haven't had a big win in a long time," Williams said. "They haven't had an opportunity to rush the court and feel that whole atmosphere of being on the court."